Twins of Calamity
by Lyrasloon
Summary: Atem and Heba are twins, born to either lead Egypt to prosperity or great calamity. Their lives are filled with assassins who loathe the youngest and yet others will see him as a guiding light for the Pharaoh. But what happens if Heba is forced to take over after a battle gone wrong? I rated it K for the battle scenes (especially in the first chapter) Ratings may change to T.


A/N: Okay, so I have been going back to watching shows I haven't seen in a _long_ time, one of these being Yu-Gi-Oh. What possessed me to do it is totally beyond me, but it gave me quite a few ideas for one shots and such. *facepalm* It's like every time I watch a show these days I have an idea for a new story. I swear, writing is a double edged sword sometimes. Sigh.

Full Summary (because it deserves a more in depth look, I suppose): A/U- kinda

Yami (Atem) and Yugi (Heba) are twins both born in ancient Egypt, which is seen as a bad omen by some. Many see one twin as the bringer of a war in the future or a means of unseating the future pharoah; while others see him as a child of light, meant to be his brother's other half and advisor.

+Any summonings that either Atem or Yugi do (with the probable exception of Mahado and Mana, etc) will be based off of their decks (or more accurately, the Pharaoh's)

*Both of the princes are aware of their family ties to Seto, amongst other things. I haven't decided what to do about Aknadin; whether or not he should be one of the big bads or not. Meh.

_***Yami and Yugi are nicknames they went by when they were younger, but still call each other in super serious situations or when they're sick, etc. Otherwise, it's Atem and Heba.**_

**Italics will be twin speak, unless it's emphasizing something.

Chapter 1: Was This Really Planned All Along?

It wasn't meant to be this way, Heba knew. He could feel the blood creeping down his side from a wound, but he hardly noticed it anymore. He watched in a somewhat detached way as the guards ran towards him. He slowly turned his head towards his brother, who had foolishly tried to prevent him from being hurt in the first place. As Heba finally lost his battle with consciousness, he smiled, knowing that the twins of calamity had once again struck. The council would argue about this for days. He could only hope that his brother would be there to see it.

As Isis was rushing between both the Pharaoh and his younger brother in her healing chambers; she had been forced to enlist the help of Mahado, which unfortunately meant that Mana had tagged along. The apprentice had quickly been shoved aside, as she had been getting in the way. Heba had the less severe wounds, having received a slice on the upper right shoulder and on his side. He had also hit his head, but the impact was lessened by him landing on something other than ground. The Pharaoh had not been so lucky. With such injuries, they were incredibly lucky that he had survived as long as he had. His breathing was too quick for her liking, most likely due to the pain from his injuries. If only they had noticed the assassin earlier, things would not have turned out so badly. Even with all of the power in their Millenium items, she just couldn't believe that they had all missed something like this. She had seen a darkness approaching and had told her Pharaoh, warning him to be careful. But with both of them out of commission, there was little choice but for Priest Seto to temporarily take charge. She knew that he would take no amount of pleasure in it, especially given his dislike of meetings and how he hated putting up with what he saw as mere irritants. As she finished wrapping up a disturbingly large gash on the Pharaoh's head, she heard Mahado try to calm his restless twin. It was no surprise, really, as she knew that even unconscious the two had an uncanny sense for each other. Mahado narrowed his eyes slightly, and half-turned to Isis.

"Should we let them rest in their rooms now?"

Isis thought about the well being of her two patients, and heard Heba whine again what was undoubtedly, his brother's name. She looked up at her friend in equal parts determination and sadness, and shook her head.

"Put them both in the Pharaoh's room. I think they need to be with each other right now; to be separated would probably hurt them more than they already are." Isis said mostly to herself.

"I shall make the arrangements." he said, before walking towards where Mana was. "I think we should prepare some extra security, just in case, although Priest Seto would now have last word on that."

"You know he'd agree, Mahado. Do it and if he is angry, he will be angry with me." Isis said, being uncharacteristically stubborn. Her friend frowned, before sighing.

"It is not your fault Isis. They would not want you to blame yourself, and neither do I. Use your energy to help them recover." he told her, leaving a speechless Isis staring after him.

-Flashback-

Everything had been in such chaos as another meeting had become necessary, immediately following a devastating attack by an unknown group of bandits who had run through a nearby village. There had been an immediate reaction, as many of the surviving villagers had been forced to find a new place to live. A report had come through by one of said villagers, describing the horrors; which had only fed the chaos and fear. Atem sat there, merely contemplating his choices on the matter. He could send some people out and search for them, knowing that they'd likely retreated farther into the desert or fortify the surrounding cities.

"_What's your opinion, Yugi?"_

"_Why ask me, Atem? They will merely ignore it if I were to tell you my opinion. If I were you, I'd dismiss Father's old council. There are very few I'd actually trust not to try and stab me in the back."_

Atem subtly glanced around the room, before looking back at his brother. He knew that his brother was right, as he often was. He felt a smug sense of satisfaction from his twin through their link and felt more than a little annoyed. The smug feeling suddenly went away, replaced with a sense of dread that both of them could feel. Atem couldn't find the source and by the looks of it, neither could his brother. It seemed that no one else had noticed, besides the two of them.

"_Over there! I saw someone behind that pillar, Yami!"_

Atem was somewhat surprised by the sudden name change, because his brother only called him that when one of them were sick, hurt or scared.

"_It's another assassin, isn't it?" _

"_Probably, but why are we the only ones who have noticed?" Heba asked, trying to remain both calm and alert. "Should we say something?"_

Just as Atem opened his mouth to tell everyone, it seemed that they had at last noticed. _Better late than never. _Everyone rushed to protect the brothers, only to be too late. It wasn't clear whether the assassin was after Atem or Heba, or even both of them; but Atem wasn't going to take the chance. He was the first born and his father had left Heba to him to protect. He knew that their distance from each other made the fact that the chance of one or both of them getting hurt was very high. Gathering all of his energy he could spare, Atem shot himself in his brother's direction, making them both fall to the ground and roll towards the wall with momentum. He could feel the blood dripping from somewhere on his leg and saw some blood on his brother's face. His brother looked dazed as he tried to concentrate, but could see the guilty expression on his brother's face. He felt like sleeping, but his brother kept shaking him and giving him a pleading expression he hadn't seen in several...years?

"_You're hurt, Yami, aren't you?" Heba asked, suddenly feeling more alert. He had noticed that his brother was leaning on one side, which could only meant that he had hurt himself while stupidly tackling him._

"_I am fine, Yugi; don't worry so much." Atem said, trying to act casual and not shift his leg at all. Heba scowled and silently apologized before shifting his leg on "accident". As his brother returned his scowl and grunted quietly from the pain, Heba withheld the urge to punch his brother. Before he could make a sarcastic remark, however, he saw a few more assassins coming from both sides. They were trapped with little options, and their guardians were still fighting some others. When they were done with this battle, these people were headed for the shadow realm. _

"_Yami, behind you!" Heba yelled in his mind, dragging him behind a pillar as quickly as he could manage. _

"_Yugi, what can we do? We're both injured and surrounded. There's no way out of this one, is there?"_

"_I guess we just have to keep to the shadows for now and hope no one finds us. There are too many and neither one of us thought to bring a diadiankh with us. I guess we'll have to start bringing them to meetings now, if we...survive. Yami, I...I don't feel well, brother. Why?" Heba asked, sounding distant in Atem's mind. _

Atem could feel his brother's mind slipping and forgot about the surrounding assassins, as he held his brother close to him. "Heba! Heba, stay awake!" He absentmindedly noticed the others in the corner of his eyes and grabbed a nearby diadiankh that had, quite frankly, come out of nowhere. At this point, he would've summoned someone if it was only him or if he had the time to do so.

"Duos! Help the Pharaoh get rid of these intruders!" yelled Seto from across the room.

From where Atem was, he could see Seto fighting his own battle and trying to make his way towards them. Duos was doing a good job and gave him a good opening to do a summoning of his own. Lifting his left hand he summoning Gaia the Fierce Knight into battle, which unfortunately only served to make him feel weaker. Under usual circumstances, he could've summoned Obelisk the Tormentor but he had put too much energy into getting his young brother to some sort of safety. Duos and Gaia were holding most of them off, with the exception of one or two so far. The nagging question that kept popping up in the back of the young pharaoh's mind was _how did all of these assassins get in and where are they coming from_? Being so distracted, he had let an unknown man get closer to his brother while he was still fighting someone else. In yet another desperate attempt to get to his brother, Atem kicked the assailant towards the opposite wall and in the direction of some summoned monsters. He took a slice on the side in the process for that reckless move, and limped as fast as he could towards his brother. His brother had his eyes halfway open, obviously trying his best to stay awake for him. He could see Seto in his peripheral view, running towards him, looking more frightened than he'd probably ever seen him. His cousin wasn't one to show his emotions most of the time, so the thought frightened him somewhat.

The last assailant had decided to wait until everyone had tired themselves out and would undoubtedly be unable to protect themselves. The Pharaoh was barely able to stand as it was, and it seemed that his brother was barely staying awake. Smiling and feeling quite smug, the assailant attacked the injured Pharaoh full force and sent him rolling into the wall. Going in for another attack, he was quite unprepared for Seto's monster Duos. As Seto divided his attention between the two brothers and the battle, Duos attacked the intruder relentlessly until he was finally defeated. Seeing as there was no one left, all the monsters returned and Seto was left kneeling between his two cousins reeling in shock.

_-_End Flashback-

The Pharaoh's chambers were silent, with the two brothers resting as painlessly as possible next to each other. The guards outside the room seemed unsettled by what had happened and tried not to twitch at any sound, no matter how small. It had been a week already and as neither of the twins conditions had improved all that significantly, Seto had to settle into the role of leader, no matter how much he hated and loathed the prospect. Seto walked into the chambers and felt unsettled just as he had for the past several days. It was always quiet when he came here, which made him feel both uncomfortable and yet safe at the same time. He'd talked to his cousins every time he came here, having been told by Isis that they could undoubtedly hear him and would probably awaken sooner if they heard a familiar voice. He was skeptical, but could practically hear Heba telling him that there was no harm in trying it. So here he was yet again, quietly telling the both of them about his day. The first day he had made sure to threaten them and tell them he'd outright deny that he'd done any of this.

As he had fallen asleep after a long day in their room yet again, he jumped when he felt some fingers twitch against him. He supposed that he should've felt somewhat horrified at the undignified position he fell asleep, but he had been exhausted and it wasn't the first time it had happened this week. Looking up, he noticed nothing of importance at first until Heba's fingers moved again a moment later. For a moment, Seto wasn't sure whether he should get Isis or stay where he was. Even if Heba wasn't awake at the moment, this was certainly progress and he could be awake. Sitting gently enough not to hurt either one of them, he got a little closer to Heba and quickly glanced at Atem. He was sure he hadn't imagined it, but he needed one of them to wake up.

"Heba?" Seto asked, trying not to get frustrated at the lack of response. Trying not to blush, he glanced at Atem to make sure he wouldn't hear. Actually, he wasn't sure he'd mind being made fun of by his cousin at the moment. "Yugi?"

Heba's eyelashes fluttered a bit, making Seto jump. Rushing to the door, he opened the doors and yelled at one of the guards to get Isis. Doing so actually calmed his nerves quite a bit. As soon as he was sure that she was on her way, he rushed back to the bed and found Heba slowly opening his eyes.

"Heba! How are you feeling?" Seto asked him, trying not to look anxious.

"S-Seto?!" Heba asked, sounding raspy. What happened? Why am I in my brother's...room?"

Seto sighed as he saw Heba look around confusedly, before finally looking at his brother next to him. As he saw that his brother was still asleep, Heba reached out to touch him as the door opened and revealed Isis. She smiled at seeing him awake, but then shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of the image of the battle and bloody aftermath.

"My Prince, how are you feeling?" Isis asked gently, while looking him over. She knew that she probably wouldn't get an honest answer out of him, as he always liked to spare other people's feelings and look as tough as he seemed to think his brother was.

"I'm feeling fine, really; just a little tired." _and worried about my brother._

Seto and Isis glanced at each other skeptically, and then back at Heba, who had gently picked up his brother's hand. He looked close to tears, either from the pain or at seeing his always unbreakable brother this way.

"Isis, you should give him something to ease his suffering." Seto said in his usual no nonsense tone, which left no room for argument. Isis nodded, making Heba drink water mixed with some weird herbs. She had healed him the best she could, but some things just couldn't be rushed.

"He needs some rest before we start talking to him about our current problems." she told him, speaking in a hushed voice and looking at the two on the bed.

The people were growing concerned, as they had not seen either of the two royals since the attack. Rumors were spreading, from assassins to a leader of bandits infiltrating the palace and forcing them into hiding. The rumors needed to be stopped in their tracks before some sort of violence happened, but neither of the royals were in any condition to have that sort of conversation. It could be at least another week or two before Heba was able to walk around for short periods of time, but a stressful conversation was an entirely different matter.

TBC…

A/N: Meh. Okay, initially I was thinking I was going to be starting this story in medias res, however...I'm not sure whether I should just go forward or take a giant leap back towards the beginning of their lives somehow in Atem's dreams or something. I _do know_ that this story has quite a way to go. _


End file.
